The present invention is related to a support for a person's forearm according to the preamble of the claims.
Increasingly occupational deceases are found in connection with persons performing their daily work in a seated position thereby maintaining arms and hands at a level above the work to be performed. This in fact means static or almost static work in a considerable period of time of a working day. The work to be performed is limited to a relatively small working area, such as a typewriter, calculator or computer keyboard or assembly works of diferent kinds, such as in a production line, drawing works etc.
Even when moving the hands within a limited area, the forces necessary for holding the hands and the forearms in a position above the working place, is so large that substantial counter forces have to be excited in the shoulders, the back, the back of the neck, the upper arm as well as the forearm and the wrists. This will be the case even when using a chair adequately adjusted to the person involved and the working place. The muscles of the body counteract naturally to the muscles supporting the weight of the hands and arms. As well known such counteracting give a number of problems to the body.
Periods with pain in shoulders, back and back of the neck especially as well as in the elbow points frequently occurs in the above mentioned categories of work as well as others. The days of absence from work due to such problems is enormous and partly undiscovered.
Several attempts have been made to solve these problems or decrease the pain and absence. Known is for example a support for the forearm which to a certain degree decreases the load as part of the forearm weight may be taken up by the device. A limitation, however, has been found in the use of such a support as the movement of the hand is limited and not given sufficient freedom within the necessary area. This solution therefore has not brought forward the final solution to these problems.
In most cases as mentioned above, it is necessary for the hands to be moved freely, independently of each other within a limited area, however, substantially in the same horizontal or possibly inclined plane. With known solutions the arm must be lifted from the support if the fingers should cover the entire working area as mentioned above. This limitation substantially limits the use of the support and above all limits the contribution of the support to a relaxed working position for the entire body.